House Committee schedules first hearing to review Boston Marathon bombings

WASHINGTON _ The House Homeland Security Committee on May 9 will hold the first congressional hearing to probe the Boston Marathon attacks, focusing on the law enforcement and emergency response, the panel’s chairman announced Wednesday.

“The Committee is currently examining the events leading up to the attack on our homeland, the genesis of this plot and the reaction by law enforcement,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican of Texas. “Next week’s hearing will provide an opportunity to hear from those who were on the front lines of the response effort and who were present through the attack and its aftermath.”

McCaul said the hearing will be the first in a series that the panel will hold in the coming weeks to determine if warnings may have been missed that could have prevented the attack and what lessons might be learned to prevent future ones.

``As our nation recovers, it is imperative that we understand what happened, what signs may have been missed and what we can improve,” he said.

The committee’s wide-ranging investigation, McCaul added, “will look at how law enforcement addressed the area after the attack; how federal, state and local officials communicated with their counterparts at other agencies regarding the suspects before and following the event; and the challenges associated with securing our country since 9/11.’’